http://chrispowell.com/carb-cycling-101/
Always a fan of weight loss programs on tv but dont understand why they dont use ketosis?

Chris Powell says carb cycling is a well established modality. I would certainly think ketosis would be more advantageous? Am i missing something?

Im still looking everywhere on the net to see why its used. Maybe u can point me in the right direction?

Those who do carb cycling stay in ketosis. CKD is typically started with two to four weeks of VLC to get into a deep ketosis along with a high intensity exercise program with one cheat day a week. The cheat day does not take people out of ketosis as the liver just doesn't respond that quickly. The exercise program supposedly depletes the carbs stored during the cheat day. (I have my doubts that many carbs are stored in the liver vs. the fat cells on that cheat day).

However, thinking about it, if one eats 200g of carbs in one day then AT MOST, that will turn into 89g of fat, i.e. a bit less than 1/4lb of fat. NBD.

Unfortunately some bro-science and voodoo get mixed in and the explanations get kind of mushy.

I'm just wondering out loud here, no factual basis.......

It's generally understood that during induction, the first 10 - 12 days of a low carb diet, the body transitions to ketosis and the liver over produces ketones, many which are discarded without being used for energy as the body adjusts to ketosis. Once adjusted, you're still in ketosis, but not manufacturing excess ketones. I believe this is the initial plateau many low carbers experience.

What if.....

You switched your body back to glycolysis for 3-4 days, while maintaining your caloric intake? Then switched back to low carb for another 12 days??

If you look at total starvation, I've read recently that ketone production plateaus around the third day, that's the same point where free fatty acids plateau at an elevated level. Over the next week or so, blood betahydroxybutyrate continues to increase, but not because ketone production is increasing--muscle etc. starts to spare ketones, converting it to betahydroxybutyrate, this spares the ketones mostly for the brain. I don't know how this translates to nutritional ketosis--but in the fasted-type, ketoadaptation actually involves a more focused, rather than an increased used of ketones.

I've seen people claim that a carb-up on the weekend knocks them out of ketosis until Wednesday.

All the studies I've seen so far of a ketogenic vs. a high carb diet show that carbs aren't necessary for lean mass gain. None of them are specific to a focused, once a week carb-up, though. My one concern would be that you'd be hitting those carbs in a particularly insulin-resistant state. I carbed up with seven bananas once, and my blood sugar went into the 160's. I doubt that would cause any serious damage, being infrequent, but I still wasn't happy about it.

I tried carb cycling a couple times when I was on VLC otherwise. The only problem I really had with it, may have had nothing to do with the biological details, but just with the effect it had on my brain, taste buds, appetite, and so on.

It was very hard to 'carb up' by say, adding 40 extra carbs in reasonable food to a day. If I added fruit, it made me suddenly ravenous all day. If I added anything with grains, it triggered the see-food diet desires for several days and restored carb cravings I'd killed dead for a long time by then.

It always began with good intentions, yet CC for me always ended up being my excuse to eat stuff not allowed on my diet, keep it within the border of 1 day or 1 weekend. It never ended well. I'm sure this was something specific to my implementation of course; intellectually I felt (and still feel) that variation is important and that VLC/ZC especially for women should likely have regular carb-up periods. For me though, lowcarb eating is easy when you're doing it; when you're suddenly not doing it, for any reason, it ceases to be so easy all the sudden, the body starts wanting other stuff.

Few people overcarb or carb-up on broccoli.

PJ

CKD diets and general carb cycling have found a good place in spercific areas like serious body builders leading up to comps.

However, personally the most common reason I have come accross for people wanting to do it is not for any body betterment but simply because it gives people a small window where they can cheat without leaving their plan.

Personally I don't see how it can benifit anyone wanting to loose weight.

I'm a carb addict...for me it ends in disaster

I can say that carb cycling worked for me. I ate a bunch of carbs with one dinner once every 7-9 days. For breakfast and lunch that day, plus all meals every other day, I ate like I was on phase 1 Atkins. I lifted weights the afternoon right before my carb binge. And I ran on a treadmill each morning.

For me, knowing that I had one meal to look forward to helped to keep me going. Another great thing is that if there is a social event involving food that you actually want to be able to enjoy then you just have to plan it out so that you have your carb meal at that time.

Maybe it works for Chris Powell. It doesn't work for me. When I went full grain elimination and VLCHFKD, I was not yet obese, but I was heading down the path to T2. Even being low carb and allowing myself to indulge in sweets and other high carb things only on birthdays/holidays just didn't work. I was the type that once I had some carbs in me, I had no shutoff switch. Know thyself is what it has come to, and articles like this give carb cravers like me a road filled with carb indulgence potholes. For me and knowing my tendencies, and yes I can see the same tendencies in my siblings and elder family members (and the results, too), the very low carb decision was necessary for good health. I'm now in a world where I do not miss the carbs I used to eat one iota.

The liver can store about 1/4 pound of glycogen.

As far as I know, Chris Powell has never had a metabolic disorder and his job involves working out all day long, so his body probably does use up the extra carbs immediately. Mine turns them into fat and slows my metabolism further.

I would rather 'carb' up with protein. I work out for about 2 hours a day hard and have seen a great improvement in muscle mass and strength with more protein, WHILE staying in ketosis. Sometimes I do drop to .2 in the am and return immediately. Most often I'm .5 or so in the am with blood testing. The return on energy though is immense.
If I'm that close to the line with an increase from 70-180 grams protein what would happen if I ate 100 grams of carbs? I think for sure it would knock me out for days.

Well a few comments on that. If you ate 40g of carbs for six days and 100g of carbs for one day then the Atkins induction level of carbs would be reached, i.e. 20g per day per week.

Second, I'm guessing from your posts that you're young and healthy and find being keto to not be much of a problem. Have you ever thought of eating a bunch of sweet potatoes on a Saturday then measure your BG and BK to see what would happen?

Good post!

Know yourself and don't lie to yourself. info. like this does give true severe carb addicts a smidge of hope they want to grab onto, while the whole time denying the fact they know they not eat like this. I can eat those carbs like this---this guys says I can----pffft. KNOW yourself is the only way.

for some this will definitely work. it is all about the individual.